This application is based on and claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 of German Patent Application 199 56 668.2, filed on Nov. 25, 1999, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a shower arrangement, especially for high volume use in a passenger cabin of a transportation vehicle, essentially including a shower cabin with a showering device therein and an access area leading to the shower cabin.
Conventional shower arrangements, especially for use in public facilities or public transportation vehicles, must provide the needed privacy for the persons who will be using such shower arrangements. For this reason, each shower cabin or shower stall of such an arrangement typically has an individual access area allocated thereto, whereby a respective single person who will use the respective shower will alone enter and use the allocated access area, which typically includes a closable and lockable dressing or changing cabin. The process of showering in such an arrangement thus involves the following sequential steps:
1) entering the dressing or changing cabin;
2) undressing;
3) preparing to shower;
4) entering the shower cabin and showering therein using the showering device such as a shower spray head or a handheld shower nozzle;
5) drying after the shower;
6) dressing in the dressing cabin;
7) applying make-up or carrying out other cosmetic, hair-styling, or hygiene steps in the dressing cabin; and
8) leaving the dressing or changing cabin.
During all of the above steps of the showering process, the entire shower arrangement, including the shower cabin as well as the access area comprising a changing or dressing cabin, is occupied by and dedicated to the use of a single user. Additional users who wish to take a shower must thus wait until the shower arrangement becomes available. Thereby, the frequency of use or the throughput or duty cycle of the shower arrangement is limited by the total time necessary to carry out all of the above mentioned steps. As a result, an increased number of such shower arrangements must be installed to provide the opportunity for a corresponding number of persons to take a shower as desired. This, of course, leads to higher costs, higher installation efforts, and also increased weight and space demands, which is particularly critical in transportation vehicles such as commercial aircraft.
Especially in high capacity commercial passenger aircraft that are outfitted for long-haul flights, it is a constant goal or even a necessity to provide the best possible comfort and service for the passengers. Therefore, it is also a goal to provide for the passengers the opportunity to take a shower as desired. It is problematic, though, in the passenger cabin of an aircraft, that the space which can be dedicated to the necessary number of shower arrangements is strictly limited. Under such conditions, the highest possible throughput or duty cycle and thus utilization frequency of each individual shower arrangement must be achieved.
In view of the above, it is an object of the invention to provide a shower arrangement of the above described general type, which is suitable for use in public facilities or in the passenger cabins of public transportation vehicles, whereby the installation cost and effort as well as the required space can be minimized, while increasing the duty cycle and utilization frequency of the shower in comparison to the prior art. The invention further aims to avoid or overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, and to achieve additional advantages, as apparent from the present specification.
The above objects have been achieved according to the invention in a shower arrangement including a shower cabin equipped with a showering device such as a shower spray head or a handheld shower sprayer, as well as at least two access areas that separately provide access to the single shower cabin. Particularly, the access areas are so embodied that access to the shower cabin is only possible through a single one of the access areas at any given time, while access through the other one or ones of the access areas is blocked. The selective opening and closing of respective ones of the access areas to the shower cabin is controlled by a suitable door arrangement.
According to further details of the invention, each access area comprises an access cabin and an access passage such as a doorway connecting the respective access cabin to the shower cabin. The access cabin and access passage may, for example, comprise a changing or dressing cabin and an access doorway in which the door arrangement selectively allows or blocks access between the respective dressing cabin and the shower cabin.
With such an arrangement, at least two dressing cabins are associated with each shower cabin, so that the throughput and duty cycle of the shower cabin can be increased. In the same context, the utilization of the minimum or limited available floor space is optimized because less space will be vacant at any time.
Particularly, several users can independently prepare themselves for taking a shower in the respective individual dressing cabins (i.e. carrying out the above described steps 1 to 3), or can be carrying out the necessary post-shower activities (i.e. above described steps 5 to 8) in the respective individual dressing cabins, while one user is taking a shower in the shower cabin, simultaneously without interfering with one another. It is evident that the throughput or duty cycle of the shower cabin is no longer limited by the total time required to carry out all of the above pre-shower, shower, and post-shower steps 1 to 8. Instead, the post-shower steps 5 to 8 can be carried out by a first user in a first dressing cabin while simultaneously a second user in a second dressing cabin is carrying out the pre-shower steps 1 to 3, and/or is taking a shower (step 4) in the shower cabin. In an arrangement with two dressing cabins, the throughput of the shower cabin itself is limited only by the time it takes to carry out the showering step 4 plus the longer of the times necessary for carrying out the steps 1 to 3 or the steps 5 to 8, but time is gained by the overlapping performance of the steps 1 to 3 and 5 to 8 by successive users in the separate dressing cabins.
Thus, according to the invention, a greater number of users can use the shower in a given period of time, in comparison to a conventional shower arrangement that includes a single dressing cabin allocated to a single shower cabin. Thereby, the cost and additional space required for installing additional shower arrangements can be avoided or minimized, while simultaneously the passenger comfort and convenience can be improved, since waiting times can be reduced.